


Black Coffee with a Shot of Vanilla

by Lirealwrites



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Help, I know nothing about coffee, Ive never done this before please don't be mean, Jack is the other barista, Joey isn't in this but she and raf are dating, M/M, Oh and someone swears, Race is taking math and science stuff, Raf and hotshot are so happy for Spot, So yeah, Spot is taking Physc and Soc and wants to be a therapist, chemistry specifically, coffee shop AU, he really hates his math class, he's crabby because he stayed up all night painting and now he's tired, just saying, oh yeah Race wants to be a professor, once - Freeform, why did I write this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 01:31:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18862996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lirealwrites/pseuds/Lirealwrites
Summary: Spot goes to get coffee before his dreaded math class. Race is the barista and the rest is self-explanatory.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm Lireal! This is the first work I'm posting here so please be nice. This is just a random prompt I picked in between writing my multichap story to help with writer's block. I'm kinda happy with this universe so I might continue it if I feel like it or if I'm asked to. Shoutout to my friend for suffering through this when she knows nothing about Newsies. No trigger warnings for this, it's just fluff.

There were few things that Spot Conlon truly loved, and caffeine was one of them. On his way to the dreaded required math class where the professor sat at his desk and droned on, only mixing up the monotony by glaring at the students, he really needed coffee just to stay awake. So he stepped into the nearest coffee shop and took a deep breath, reveling in the scent of roasting coffee. 

“Welcome to Jacobi's,” a voice said. Spot looked up to see a tall, lanky boy behind the counter. His curls were perfectly messy, and Spot nearly melted at the sight of his casual smirk but quickly shook his head.  _ Pull yourself together, Conlon, it's just a boy.  _ “What can I get ya?” Spot faltered slightly. 

“I’ll- um have black coffee with a shot of vanilla to go, please.” The boy laughed, a high pitched,  _ beautiful  _ sound. 

“Sure thing, doll.”  _ Fuck _ . He just had to make this hard, didn’t he?

“Stop flirting,” Another barista grumbled as he started making Spot’s drink. The boy elbowed him playfully.

“Hey I have to sit through you waxing poetic about Crutchie’s hair,” the other barista glared at him. “Ooh, someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?” Spot awkwardly looked between them and cleared his throat, bringing their attention back to him. 

“Oh, sorry doll,” he grabbed the to-go cup from the other barista and quickly scrawled something on it with a black sharpie. “Here you go,” he handed the cup to Spot with a wink, making sure their hands brushed as he took it. “Come back soon!” Spot managed to nod at him, his heart in his throat, as he walked out of the coffee shop and onto the street. He walked to the university on auto-pilot, entering the lecture hall and taking his usual seat in the back, next to Hotshot and Rafaela. 

“You good, Spot?” Hotshot glanced up at him, noting the zoned-out expression. “Spot?”

“Huh?” Spot startled slightly and turned to look at Hotshot, and Raf, who was now giving the exchange her full attention.

“You’re all zoned-out,” she offered, “You usually just grumble about this class.”

“I-I went to get coffee,” Spot stuttered out, cursing himself for the shakiness in his voice. Hotshot grabbed the cup and held it out to Raf, who turned it around carefully, grinning when she found Race’s writing. 

“No,” Spot shrieked, reaching out to grab it again despite knowing Raf was too far away. 

“‘My next shift is 8 am Thursday’”, she looked up at Spot with a smirk. “Got a date?” Spot blushed and laid his head down on the table. 

“I hate you both.” 

“Well, are they cute?” Hotshot poked Spot. “How’d you meet them?”

“I went to get coffee, I just met him,” He turned his head to look up atHotshot and Rafaela's amused expressions. “It’s not a date.” Rafaela just shrugged. 

“There probably will be,” she turned to Hotshot who nodded.

“You literally came in here like you’d just been kissed for the first time.”

“Shut up,” Spot muttered as he took out his phone and entered an event for Thursday morning at 8 a.m. 

“He’s probably texting him right now.”

“I don’t even have his number!”

“Spottie’s in loooove,” Raf sang. 

“Just wait till we tell Joey.”

Spot groaned and put his head down again. Hopefully, the barista wasn’t as annoying as his other friends. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Spot meets Race for his shift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This chapter is probably shorter than the last one, and not that much actually happens because it's currently 1 am and I want to sleep, but I also wanted to post this. I did add my OC in this time, I'm trying to expand slightly by adding in baristas other than Jack. No trigger warnings again unless you count the one swear at the end.

Predictably, Spot found himself standing outside the coffee shop on Thursday, his phone reading 7:55. Through the window, he could see a different barista with dark black hair boredly picking at their wrists. He ran a hand through his hair and checked his phone again. He didn't even have class until this afternoon, coffee wasn't really necessary. Ignoring his thoughts, he pushed open the door and nervously walked up to the counter.

“Welcome to Jacobi's,” the barista greeted. “Race ain't here yet.”

“Race?” Spot echoed blankly. Who was Race? The barista just laughed.

“Just hold on, he'll be here in a minute or two.” With that, the bell rang behind him and she shooed Spot aside to make room for the new customer. With nothing else to do, Spot crashed on to one of the couches and pulled out his phone.

 

_Brooklyn 99_

_Spot: Help he isn't here_

_Hotshot: it's still two minutes before his shift, chill_

_Joey: and if nothing else you can talk to one of the other baristas_

_Joey: but I'm sure he'll show up!_

 

“Cute boy?” His head snapped up at the familiar voice and he saw the boy, curls messy and expression happy. “You came!” How could he not have come?

“Of course I did, I couldn't pass you up,” he watched as the boy's face lit up. “When does your shift end?”

“I get off at 12, but then I have to go to class.” Spot nodded in understanding.

“I have a class at 12:30 so I could walk you?” the boy beamed. “That'd be great!” Spot felt himself fill with relief.

“Race are you planning on working sometime today?” The other barista called from the counter, nodding to the line of customers. Race glared at her briefly before turning back to Spot.

“I'll see you at 12?” Spot offered.

“See you then.”

“Race!” With an apologetic smile and a quick wave, Race stepped behind the counter and started taking orders. Spot sighed heavily and turned away, walking out the door and heading down the street to the dorm he shared with Hotshot.

After the morning rush died down a bit, Race pulled out his Chem textbook and started reading the assigned chapter, occasionally writing notes.

“What time is he meeting you?” she asked expectantly. Race glared at her, but his blush gave him away.

“Noon.” She grinned at him.

“Do you even know his name yet?”

“Hey, I probably would if you hadn’t interrupted us,” He shot back. She just laughed.

“So in love and you don’t even know his name.” Race blushed.

“I am _not_ so in love,” he protested.

“You may not be, but he is. He even left without coffee.” Race looked up at the door.

“Holy shit,” he said softly, closing his textbook and grabbing his phone. “I gotta text Maria.” Moon pulled out her phone and checked the time.

“Well would you look at that, it’s the end of my shift,” she shoved it back into her hand. “Bye Race, have fun telling you woes to Romeo.”

“Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr: @tea-and-theater


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Race and Spot think about their date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This is incredibly short because I'm tired but I wanted to post a new chapter before being shipped off to Ohio for a week. Enjoy!  
> TW: none

Spot would say his first date with Race was a success. He had taken Race to a small diner that he frequented and found out that Race was from an Italian-Irish family, and that he had a sister. In turn, he had told Race about his awesome foster moms, Emma and Alyssa. Race’s favorite color was blue, and he loved horses. Spot wasn’t as sure about the horse thing, he didn’t like how tall they were compared to him, but the happiness on Race’s face definitely made up for that. 

So now, Spot was sprawled out on his dorm bed and grinning up at the ceiling as he ignored Hotshot’s smirks. 

“Joey wants to know everything about your date.” Oh, wow. Spot hadn’t even heard his phone buzz. 

“Tell her she can wait until tomorrow,” he didn’t want to move off his bed, he just wanted to keep staring up at the ceiling and thinking about Race’s gorgeous blue eyes. 

 

Race would say his first date with Spot was a success. They had gone to a diner with decent food, and Spot had insisted on paying. Even though Race had no objections to paying, it was always nice to be able to eat something other than pasta. He grinned to himself. He definitely did not regret writing on Spot’s cup, despite the jokes from the other baristas. 

“Hey, Race whatcha thinking about?” Race rolled his head over to look at Albert. 

“You know exactly what I’m thinking about.” 

“Banging coffee boy?” Albert ducked and the pillow Race threw flew over his head and crashed onto the wall behind him.

“His name is Spot, and I am not thinking about banging him!” Albert just cackled as Race felt his face heat up.

“I don’t like you,” he mumbled grumpily.

“I’m hurt, Racetrack,” Albert clutched a hand to his chest. “My partner in crime, my best friend has replaced me for another, and now the truth is revealed: he says he doesn’t like me.” He leaned back dramatically in his desk chair. “What has the world come to?”

Race decided to ignore Albert and think about Spot’s gorgeous brown eyes instead. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spot meets Race's friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so it took me awhile but here's an update. After this, I have only one more chapter planned, so any requests or suggestions would be appreciated! Feel free to comment here or ask on my tumblr: @tea-and-theater  
> TWs: implied violence, scars, kind of implied abuse, and the words tits
> 
> Enjoy!

Crutchie was happily laying in Jack’s lap and enjoying the soothing rhythm of Jack’s fingers in his hair. Next to him, he could hear Moon arguing with Romeo and occasionally Specs about the themes in Romeo and Juliet, which provided a surprisingly good source of entertainment, especially when Romeo forgot the name of Tybalt Capulet and called him ‘angry soul” until Specs took pity on him and told him the actual name. Underneath him, Jack stiffened. Opening one eye, Crutchie followed Jack’s glare to Race, and the tan, dark-haired boy walking hand in hand with him. So that was the boy Race had been talking about for the past month. 

“Race’s dating Spot Conlon?” He whispered. 

“Do you know him?” Crutchie asked, slightly concerned. Jack snorted.

“He’s the one who gave me that scar on my arm.” Crutchie’s eyes widened and flickered towards the hem of Jack’s t-shirt. 

“He’s the kid who stole all your lunch money?”

“Hey guys!” Race chirped, effectively cutting off Specs frustrated rant about English teachers. 

“Hey, Spot.” Moon grinned, whispering something in Specs’ ear. Spot waved awkwardly, and then he saw Jack. His eyes widened comically, and he seemed to be fighting the instinct to run.

“Spot, this is Jack. Jack, this is my boyfriend Spot.” Race said, completely oblivious to the tension.

“We’ve met.” Jack said coldly. Spot still hadn't said anything, but he refused to meet Jack's eyes. Race finally picked up on the tension between them.

“Um…great?” He asked hopefully, looking a little worried. Spot awkwardly cleared his throat, still not looking at Jack.

“I’m...sorry.” He shifted under Jack’s glare. Crutchie started rubbing Jack’s arm soothingly. 

“Maybe another time,” he said gently. “We should probably head back, you were up late again.” Jack took his eyes off of Spot and looked at Crutchie, then nodded. Crutchie shifted off his lap and grabbed his forearm crutches from where he had tossed them earlier. Jack grabbed the blanket they had been laying on and offered him a hand up. Crutchie took it and pulled himself up, then attached his forearm crutches. 

“See ya tomorrow, Race.” Race waved back at him, still looking incredibly confused. 

“Bye," Race answered. Jack followed Crutchie out of the park and out of sight, and Race turned to Spot and the rest of his friends. 

“Soooo...that was weird.” Spot looked guilty, and Romeo shrugged. 

“Well, we’re still here and we still have enough people for Twister so I don’t know why you’re just standing there." Race shrugged. 

“Twister it is then, I guess." Romeo jumped up excitedly and started pulling the mat out of his bag, recruiting Specs to help him lay it down and pin it.

“Race,” Spot started. “I think I owe you an explanation.” Race nodded.

“You do.” He motioned vaguely at the others around them. “But you might want to wait until we’re alone and we don't have Romeo dragging us into Twister.” Romeo, as if called by his name, spoke up. 

“You two playing?” Spot nodded in agreement to Race, still looking a little guilty. “Ok.” Race smiled. 

“Just have fun, we can deal with it later.” 

“We’re starting!” Romeo yelled, despite Race and Spot only standing a few feet away from him. 

“Ok, ok, we’re coming,” Race rolled his eyes. “Keep your tits on.” Romeo threw a blanket at him.

“My tits are wonderful, thank you!”

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: @tea-and-theater


End file.
